All of us need Native American cultures to remain vibrant and strong.

 

I'm convinced that unless our own Native American cultures and languages remain vibrant and strong, none of us will survive for long on this Earth. After all, it was the Indigenous Peoples who for generations prayed and did ceremony to bless the earth, water and sky, and who understood that humanity and the natural world are a part of a Greater Whole. It seems to me that one of the most important tasks of the present time is to make sure the various tribal Nations survive and thrive, and also that the rest of us set out to learn - in ways that are respectful - whatever they want to teach us about living in harmony with the land and finding our selves rooted in Nature. The fact that our current industrial consumer culture is in the process of polluting the land, air and water and altering the climate in irrevocable ways is ample evidence of the fact that the wisdom of Native Peoples is desperately needed.

Photo: Paiute Peak, Indian Peaks Wilderness, CO; March 8, 2014. Some of the other mountains in this wilderness are named "Arapaho," "Navajo," "Apache," "Shoshoni," "Pawnee," "Ogalalla," "Arikaree," "Kiowa," "Hiamonvi," "Satanta," and "Watanga" peaks.